Technical Field
The present invention relates to a charged particle beam apparatus that automatically performs sampling.
Related Art
In the related art, a device is known which extracts a sample piece which has been prepared by irradiating a sample with a charged particle beam including electrons or ions and works the sample piece into a shape suitable for various processes such as observation, analysis, and measurement using a scanning electron microscope, a transmission electron microscope, and the like (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 1 and No. 2 listed in below).
In the related art, a device is known which uses an image (also referred to as an absorbed current image or an inflow current image) formed from an ion beam current flowing in a needle to clearly locate a tip position of the needle in extracting a sample piece which has been prepared by irradiating a sample with a focused ion beam using the needle installed in the device and processing the sample piece into a shape suitable for various processes such as observation, analysis, and measurement using a scanning electron microscope, a transmission electron microscope, and the like (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 3 listed in below). In this device, when a surface of a sample has a complicated shape like a semiconductor device pattern, the tip position of the needle may not often be recognized due to an influence on the shape of the sample surface in a secondary electron image and thus an absorbed current image can be effectively used.
Patent Application Publication No. 1: JP-A-H05-052721
Patent Application Publication No. 2: JP-A-2008-153239
Patent Application Publication No. 3: JP-A-2000-171364